The present invention relates to a multiple part gripper for use with an industrial robot.
Machining centers having multiple stations fed by a rotating table are capable of performing multiple machining operation requiring completed work pieces to be removed and blank work pieces to be inserted in a rapid fashion to avoid increasing the cycle time of the machining center.
A single gripper for performing the insertion and removal tasks avoids the need of designing special purpose multiple part handling grippers but requires a faster and a larger robot to handle the increased stress due to the high speed movement required of the single gripper. Multiple part handling gripers can be heavy and introduce an additional load to be handled by the robot arm requiring a robot with larger load capability.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a multiple part handling gripper which minimizes robot arm motion required to insert and remove parts in a rotary work station.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a multiple part gripper which provides rapid part removal and insertion while minimizing stress, allowing a smaller pay load, slower speed robot to be used than would otherwise be possible.